Sebastian Fundora gets the nod over Daniel Lewis!
Standing tall at 6’5″, prospect Sebastian Fundora (13-0, 9KO) is the tallest fighter in the junior middleweight division in boxing history!
In addition, he is not just some kid that failed at playing basketball and choose boxing. The southpaw from California actually boasts an amateur career with 130 fights!
On the under-card of Deontay Wilder vs Tyson Fury II, Fundora took on another undefeated prospect in Daniel Lewis (6-0, 4KO) from Australia. Although he only had six professional fights coming in, he gained high praise with the work he did in training camp with WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford.
TAKING PUNISHMENT TO GIVE SOME
At junior middleweight, Fundora always has a height and reach advantage against his opponents and early on, he knew how to use them behind the jab. However, a known flaw of his is when he gets into a rhythm, he has a tendency to hunch over. This act allows his smaller opponents opportunities to catch him if they get passed the jab.
While Lewis was not really able to get passed the jab, his durability allowed him to take a shot or two while moving in and was able to have his own success on his hunched over opponent. Additionally, he had the correct game-plan, working the body in attempt to stagnate the mobile Fundora.
However by round four, the nose of Lewis started to pour blood as the amount of shots he took just to get close to his opponent seemed to do much more damage than he could reciprocate.
GIVING UP THE ADVANTAGE
Although he had control of the fight, it was intriguing to see Fundora start to give up his height and reach advantages in the middle rounds. Maybe it was a lapse in executing the game-plan, fatigue or a planned event.
In any case, fighting small did not help him.
As a result, he started to get hit continuously by his over-matched opponent and allowed Lewis to make a case towards winning some of those rounds. This ultimately destroyed what should have been a ten round shut-out for Fundora. Furthermore, he sustained damage in the way of a bloody nose he probably shouldn’t have.
What ultimately helped the tall southpaw in this fight was his volume. Although he began to be the his own worst enemy, the sheer volume he produced over the course of ten rounds coupled with the lack of defense Lewis had allowed Fundora to still bank most of the closer rounds.
After ten, all three judges had the 6’5″ prospect winning resulting in a unanimous decision victory for Fundora!
If the kid looks to move on to better opposition in the near future, one thing he will need to work on is not relinquishing his height and reach and turning into an inside fighter as his fights approach the middle rounds.
Against just a B-level contender, he could get caught and end up having an early night for the worse!
By: EJ Williams
